Stall dividers today comprise a pivotal neck rail of metal, which can be pivoted up and down; however, this structure is more liable to fail if the cow applies a larger amount of force to it. Furthermore, the rigid structure may hurt the cow when the cow comes in contact with the neck rail. The neck rail also limits the movement when the animal is standing up. Such a stall divider is described in WO 2009/052829 A1.
U.S. 2007/0006817 A1 describes a free stall divider comprising a divider member, a support rail mounted on a structural member of the barn, and a control rail suspended from the support rail. The disadvantage is that the control rail is not sufficiently effective to prevent the cow from entering further into the stall. Furthermore, the cow may easily move into the adjacent stall or the opposite stall.
Conventional stall dividers, such as described in U.S. 2005/0263092 A1, consist mainly of metal, which reduces the comfort and welfare of the animals since the animals may hurt themselves on the rigid structural elements. Furthermore, the disadvantage with the conventional structures is that the animals may get stuck in the structure, thus reducing the comfort and welfare even more.
None of these stall dividers provides a simple and versatile structure that improves the comfort and welfare of the animals.